Boston Radio: Audacy Has Deals To Sell Real Estate

Audacy at 83 Leo M Birmingham Parkway

Audacy has aggressive plans to sell more land and office buildings to raise cash and cut its debt load. Since merging with CBS Radio in November 2017, it has closed $224 million in “non-strategic” asset sales, a mix of tower sites, buildings, land and radio stations. 

Earmarked for sales are real estate in or near the Audacy markets of Boston, Portland, Buffalo, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Chicago. The plan, which was drafted prior to the bankruptcy, does not include any proposed station spin-offs.

The latest  sell-off is in Boston,where  has agreed to sell a pair of real estate assets. According to the reports Audacy has a deal with 83 Leo Property Owner LLC, which  will acquire the studio/office building on 83 Leo M. Birmingham Parkway in Boston for $11,120,000 at closing and up to another $7 million when zoning approvals are granted or Audacy vacates the property. Another transaction is the tower site in Needham, MA for Sports 850 WEEI Boston will go to American Tower Corporation for $3.5 million.

Audacy owns five stations in the Boston market, including sports WEEI-FM & AM (93.7, 850), and AC “Magic 106.7” WMJX.

Next year Audacy hopes to fetch $13.0 million for a parcel of land in Portland, OR, where it owns a seven-station cluster that includes adult hits “97-1 Charlie FM” KYCH and classic rock KGON (92.3).

The remaining asset sales are earmarked for 2025 or later, including:

• Land in Glendale Heights, IL, 30 miles west of Chicago, home to seven Audacy stations including “News Radio 780” WBBM/WCFS (105.9) and adult alternative WXRT (93.1). Estimated price $18.0 million
• Land in Hamburg, NY, a suburb of Buffalo where it owns six stations including sports WGR (550) and CHR “Kiss 98.5” WKSE. Estimated price: $300,000
• Land in O’Fallon, MO, 34 miles west of St. Louis, home to six Audacy outlets, including AC KEZK and urban AC “96.3 The Lou” WFUN. Estimated price: $400,000
• Real property in Minneapolis (estimated price: $5.7 million), along with land in nearby Ramsey, MN ($400,000). Audacy’s three-station Minneapolis cluster includes adult hits “104.1 Jack FM” KZJK and country “102.9 The Wolf” KMNB.

The sell-offs may not end here. Audacy says it continues to “evaluate other opportunities to sell select assets and it expects to add to its pipeline over time.”